Intensified fighting in crude producer Libya between rival militias and the emergence there of the Islamic State group this year has raised fears in neighbouring countries of a cross-border spillover.

Fighting in the North African state, a member of the OPEC oil-producing cartel, has seen output reduced from a high of almost 1.5 million barrels a day to 150,000, according to analysts.

Iraq, another OPEC member, is also battling jihadists who spearheaded a sweeping offensive in June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad.

Data showing inflation in China, the world’s top energy consumer, rebounded in February from a more-than-five-year low the previous month was offset by plunging factory gate prices.

Consumer price inflation jumped to 1.4 per cent in February, the government said, up from 0.8 per cent in January, although the producer price index fell 4.8 per cent, its worst reading since October 2009.